William k



W. K. SPAULDING.

SERVICE FLAG, APPLICATION FILED OCT. 17, 1918.

1,355,861. v Patented Oct. 19,1920.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM K. SPAULDING, OF KETGHIKAN,TERRITORY OF ALASKA.

sEnvIcE rLAe.

indicating civilian service of a patriotic nature, such as the purchasing of Liberty bonds, subscribing to the Red Cross, Y. M. G. A. or other war activities and an object of the invention is to provide a flag, as shown in my Design Patent #52 1 11 issued September 10, 1918, wherein the length of the flag is extensible, to permit the distribut ing of an increasing number of stars, as the owner of the flag performs additional patriotic duties or services; and if desired, the flag could be used by societies, churches or the like in lieu of the common service flag, to indicate men in the service of the country, and as the number of men from the society in either the Army or Navy increase, the flag could be unrollcd to distribute a corresponding number of stars.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, and in which drawing:

Figure 1 is a face View of the improved service flag.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the service flag, showing in detail the clamping structure for retaining the rolled portion of the flag in place,

Fig. 3 is a detailed section. 1

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 1 generically indicates the flag, which comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending alternate red-and white stripes. It will be noted, by particular reference to Fig. l of the drawing, that the stripes are arranged in such manner as to present a red stripe indicated at 2, at each edge of the flag 1, and a white stripe as indicated at 3 at the center of the flag which is separated from the red stripe 2, by red stripes 4 and white stripes 5. The white stripes 5 are positioned one upon each side of the blue field 6, and the stripes 3 and 4 extend outwardly from the outer end of the field 6 to the outer free end of the flag 2. The flag 2 is con- Specificationof Letters Patent. Patented o t. 19 1920;

Application filed October 17, 1918. Serial No. 258,563.

nectedto and carried by a holder structure generically indicated by thenumeral'lO, and

this holder structure comprises a pair of members 11 and 12 which are hingedly connected, by means of a rod 13. The rod 13 extends longitudinally through hinged barrel portions indicated at 141 formed upon the upper edges of the sections-.11 and 12. These sections 11 and 12 have: theirfacing sides spaced to form. a pocket as clearly i 1 shown invFig. 3 of the drawing, in which the rolled portion of the flag 1 is positioned and their lower free edges are bent inwardly toward each other as shownat 14, for engagement upon eachside of the extended portion of the flag to support thesame and prevent the rolled portion from unrolling. The section 11 of the holder 10 has an up standing ear or tab 15 formed thereon-which is provided with an opening 16 adapted to receive a nail, pin or other suitable suspending device for supporting the flag in an exhibiting position. The members 11 and 12 have longitudinally extending ears 17 formed upon their ends, which ears are spaced from each other and connected by means of bolts 18 and wing nuts 19. WVhen the wing nuts 19. are tightened upon the bolts 18, the sectionsll and 12 will be drawn into and held in closed position; however when it is desired to increase the length of I the. flag for exhibiting an increased number of stars, as indicated at 20 in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the wing nuts 19 are loosened, and the members 11 and 12 are swung outwardly on their hinged connections and the desired portion of the flag is unrolled from the roller portion within the holder, after which the sections 11 and 12 are again moved toward each other and clamped in their closed position by means of the wing nuts 19. The stars 20, are arranged in the blue field 6 as disclosed in the Design Patent $552,411 granted. eptemberlOth, 1918 and they are intended to designate patriotic acts or services, as previously'set forth so that when the owner of the flag performs services of a patriotic nature, additional to those indicated by the stars which are. ex-

hibited in the flag, a portion of the rolled portion of the flag is unrolled and exhibited which unrolled portion should carry the number of stars corresponding to the additional number of patriotic acts or deedsper formed.

departing from the spirit of this invention; but,

I claim:

1. A flag holder comprising. a pair of sections arranged to receive a rolled portion of a flag therebetween, each section including an elongated flatbody, inwardly extending hinge barrels formed on one longitudinal edge of each body, a hinge pin connecting the hinge barrels, a struck out tongue formed on one ofthe longitudinal edges intermediate the hinge barrels, inwardly extending right angularly disposed clamping jawsformed on the opposite longitudinal edges of the body and arranged to'hold the bodies in spaced relation, outwardly extending clamping lugs formed on the trans- Vverse edges of the bodies, and means extending through the clamping lugs for holding the jaws together. I

2. The combination with a flag including a rolled portion, of a holder for the flag including a pair of hinged sections arranged to receive the rolled portion of the flag, the sections having flat oppositely extending parallel bodies and gripping jaws formed 7 V on the bodies arranged to engage/the flag and advance the roller portion thereof to pre vent winding or unwinding of the flag and to hold the fiat bodies in relation to each other, inwardly extending rows of hinged barrels formed on the longitudinal edges of the body opposite to the jaw, a hinge pin extending through the barrel, outwardly extending lugs formed on the transverse terminals ofthe body, the lugs having alined openings formed therein, bolts extending through said alined openings, and winged nuts fitted u on saidbolt's.

W LLIAM K. SPAULDI N G. 

